UC-NRLF 


SB    315    EflM 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


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ENGINEERING  NEWS  REPRINTS 


25  Cents 


ARD-INDEX    RECORD 
ND    FILING    SYSTEMS 

•FOR — 

IGINEERS  and  CONTRACTORS 


Keprinted  from  ENGINEERING  NEWS,  August  2,  1006 


LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


Card-Index  Record  and  Filing 

Systems    for    Engineers 

and  Contractors 


Reprinted  from 
Engineering  News,  August  2.   1906 


PRICE  25  CENTS 


NEW  YORK 
THE  ENGINEERING  NEWS  PUBLISHING  CO 


CARD-INDEX    RECORD    AND    FILING    SYSTEMS    FOR 
ENGINEERS   AND    CONTRACTORS. 

The  remarkable  development  of  the  card-index 
system  of  keeping  and  filing  records  has  afforded 
exceptional  facilities  for  simplifying  the  impor- 
tant records  employed  by  engineers  and  con- 
tractors, and  for  making  these  records  more 
easily  available  than  under  any  other  system. 
This  applies  especially  to  the  records  of  progress 
and  cost  of  works  under  construction,  in  which  it 
is  of  great  importance  to  keep  constant  track 
of  these  two  features.  With  a  number  of  such 
works  in  hand  it  would  be  difficult  to  keep  them 
under  constant  supervision  and  control  from  the 
office  by  any  but  a  card-index  system,  which  en- 
ables the  figures  for  all  or  any  one  of  the  works 
to  be  made  readily  accessible.  The  system  is 
also  now  being  largely  used  in  keeping  individ- 
ual ledger  accounts  and  other  office  records,  and 
it  is  stated  that  the  adaptation  of  the  card  sys- 
tem to  bookkeeping  purposes  has  been  one  of  the 
strongest  aids  in  simplifying  and  facilitating  the 
conduct  of  office  affairs.  This  is  especially  the 
case  in  regard  to  construction  and  contract  work. 
The  use  of  the  card-index  system  in  connection 
with  the  indexing  and  filing  of  plans,  drawings, 
etc.,  has  already  been  described  in  our  columns 
at  different  times,  and  a  full  description  of  the 
system  adopted  in  the  engineering  department  of 
the  Pittsburg  &  Lake  Erie  Ry.  was  published  In 
our  issue  of  Jan.  2,  1902.  As  examples  of  the 


224503 


various  records  and  other  purposes  to  which,  the 
card-index  system  is  adapted,  we  present  here- 
with a  number  of  representative  cards  in  actual 
use  by  different  companies  and  firms.  Most/of 
these  are  made  by  the  Yawman  &  Erbe  Mfg.  Co., 
of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  for  copies  of  them,  with 
general  particulars  of  their  use,  we  are  indebted 
to  Mr.  Win.  J.  Mullin,  Manager  of  that  com- 
pany's educational  department,  and  to  Mr.  Myron 
S.  Falk,  Engineer  of  Jthe  Godwin  Construction 
Co.,  New  York. 


Fig.    1.     Card   Record   of   New  Work;   Southern 
Pacific    Ry. 

A  In  regard  to  the  introduction  of  these  systems 
far.  Mullin  states  as  follows: 

Engineers  of  all  classes  have  been  quick  to  respond 
to  the  advantages  gained  by  having  an  efficient  record 
system  in  their  offices.  The  development  of  better 
methods  in  office  practice  within  the  last  few  years  has 
been  phenomenal.  Devices  which  would  save  time  and 
promote  accuracy  have  been  eagerly  purchased  and  in- 
stalled by  the  principals  of  every  kind  of  business,  and  v 
no  business  has  received  more  benefit  from  an  efficient 
office  system  than  that  of  engineers  and  contractors. 
Busy  men,  with  their  energies  centered  on  the  outside, 
and  often  times  with  inefficient  help  in  their  offices, 
were  greatly  handicapped  by  the  methods  in  vogue  up  to 
within  recent  years,  which  prevented  "not  alone  the 
utilizing  of  every  individual's  full  capacity  for  work, 


but  caused  much  mental  wory  and  financial  loss  as  well. 
To-day,  some  of  the  larger  concerns  have  reached  such 
a  point  of  adaptation  of  modern  office  devices  to  their 
needs  that  they  are  able  to  instantly  get  at  any  required 
information  giving  the  status  of  any  incomplete  work, 
almost  up  to  the  moment  of:  investigation. 

Card  records  have  been  of  incalculable  service  in  plac- 
ing at  the  disposal  of  the  searcher,  minute  information 
regarding  any  detail  of  work  on  hand,  unfinished,  fin- 
ished, or  prospective.  When  once  an  efficient  system  is 
installed,  and  properly  maintained,  its  importance  be- 
comes so  great  that  were  ^it  withdrawn  the  depreciation 


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Fig.  2.     Reverse  Side  of  Card  in  Fig.  1. 


mpany, 

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in  outside  work  would  be  tremendous.  In  fact,  under- 
takings of  large  magnitude  cannot  be  prosecuted  at  the 
present  time  without  the  highest  degree  of  system  being 
maintained  in  the  offices  of  the  construction  com] 
so  that  every  detail  can  be  closely  looked  after. 
Isthmian  Canal  Commission  early  recognized  this  fact 
and  is  installing  efficient  office  aids  for  records  of  work 
as  it  progresses. 

Letters  and  papers  pertaining  to  any  one  contract  are 
best  filed  on  edge,  in  vertical  file  drawers,  all  papers 
bearing  upon  any  one  subject  or  contract  being  contained 
in  an  individual  folder  and  entirely  separated  from  any 
foreign  matters,  and  these  folders  being  indexed  numer- 
ically by  contract  numbers.  For  instance:  "327"  would 
contain  all  papers  shown  by  the  index  as  relating  to 
"Allegheny  Tunnel,"  while,  if  it  were  advisable  to  sub- 
divide correspondence  and  other  matter  relating  to  this 
contract,  "Employees"  would  be  "327-A;"  "Materials," 
"327-2;"  "Sub-Contracts,"  "327-3,"  etc.  The  latter 


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system  is  being  utilized  by  S.  Pearson  &  Sons,  of  New 
York,  who  are  engaged  in  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  tunnel 
construction  for  that  road's  entrance  into  New  York 
city. 

Turning  now  to  the  examples  of  records  and 
cards,  Figs.  1  and  2  show  the  face  and  reverse 
sides,  respectively,  of  a  card  used  in  the  office 
of  the  District  Engineer  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Ry.,  at  San  Francisco.  This  shows  in  condensed 
form  the  essential  particulars  regarding  requisi- 
tions for  new  work  or  the  progress  of  work  under 
construction.  The  card  is  5  x  3  ins.  Requisitions 
coming  in  to  the  District  Engineer  from  different 
parts  of  the  system  are  first  passed  upon  by  him, 
and  if  approved  are  then  forwarded  respectively 
to  the  General  Superintendent,  the  Traffic  De- 
partment and  the  General  Manager.  If  the  last 
approves  of  the  work  or  requisition  the  superin- 
tendent is  authorized,  as  shown  by  the  heading, 
and  the  other  two  spaces  on  the  face  show  the 
date  of  commencing  and  completing  the  work.  A 
contract  number  is  given  to  the  work  authorized, 
which  number  is  placed  at  the  top  of  the  card. 
A  varying  series  of  numbers  is  used  for  different 
classes  of  improvements,  such  as  "Building 
Bridges,"  "Laying  Rails,"  "Repairing  Stations," 
etc.;  the  cards  are  also  of  several  colors,  in- 
dicating the  different  districts  in  which  the  work 
is  located.  In  the  upper  right  hand  corner  of  the 
card  is  noted  the  amount  of  the  appropriation, 
and  on  the  lines  below  is  given  a  brief  descrip- 
tion of  the  work,  with  dates  of  authorization, 
commencement  and  completion.  On  the  reverse 
side,  Fig.  2  (with  the  column  heading  across  the 
shorter  length  of  the  card),  is  a  monthly  record 
of  expenditures;  this  is  classified  for  labor  and 
material,  with  the  total  for  each  month,  and  the 
total  from  the  date  of  commencement.  The 


cards  are  filed  by  the  contract  numbers,  and 
cross-indexed  by  subjects  as  well  as  by  districts. 
With  these  and  with  another  series  of  plain  ruled 
cards,  full  information  as  to  cost  and  progress 
of  work  can  be  obtained  at  any  time. 

The  cards  shown  in  Figs.  3  and  4  are  6x4  ins., 
and  are  used  by  the  Aberthaw  Construction  Co., 
of  Boston,  Mass.  The  one  shown  in  Fig.  3  gives 
a  daily  summary  of  the  work  on  any  particular 
job  or  contract,  with  account  of  time  put  in  and 
material  used.  The  column  ruling  is  the  same 
as  the  reverse  side,  so  that  there  are  27  hori- 
zontal lines  available  on  each  card.  Fig.  4  is  a 
card  giving  a  weekly  summary  of  the  information 
compiled  from  the  daily  cards  (Fig.  3).  It  is  of 
the  same  size,  but  with  the  back  blank,  and  is 
white  in  color,  while  the  daily  cards  are  yellow. 
The  company  states  that  its  foremen  on  small 
jobs,  or  timekeepers  on  larger '  ones,  make  all 
their  reports  to  the  office  on  one  form  of  card,  for 
labor  and  work  performed,  while  another  card  is 
used  to  report  materials  received.  These  reports 
are  made  out  daily  and  sent  to  the  office  three 
times  a  week. 

The  card  shown  in  Fig.  5  is  an  employee's  time 
record  used  by  the  Engineering  Bureau  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  is  one  of  numerous  card 
records  maintained  in  these  offices.  It  is  8  x  5 
ins.  in  size,  printed  on  buff  paper,  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  each  card  provides  for  the  daily  record 
of  one  employee  for  an  entire  year.  The  reverse 
side  is  ruled  with  horizontal  lines  for  remarks. 

The  keeping  up  of  ledger  accounts  with  con- 
tractors by  engineers,  railway  companies,  munic- 
ipal departments,  etc.,  is  a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance, and  the  headings  of  a  card  used  for 
ledger  accounts  of  this  kind  are  shown  in  Fig  G. 
The  card  is  8  X  5  ins.,  on  yellow  paper,  and  both 


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sides  of  the  card  are  alike.  In  this  way  a  full 
record  or  statement  for  each  contract  is  shown 
on  the  one  card,  without  confusion  with  other  ac- 
counts, and  the  cards  are  readily  filed  so  that 
any  one  account  is  easily  accessible. 

Fig.  7  shows  a  form  of  card  which  is  used  by 
several  large  concerns  for  keeping  a  record  of 
materials  contracted  for,  and  their  distribution. 
It  is  8  x  5  ins.,  on  white  paper,  and  the  vertical 
ruling  is  continued  also  on  the  reverse  side. 

Technical  records  of  construction  and  repair 
work  are  most  conveniently  kept  on  cards,  and 
Pigs.  8  and  9  illustrate  a  system  of  bridge  rec- 
ords which  has  been  in  use  for  some  time  on  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.,  and  has  been 
recently  adopted  by  the  Michigan  Central  Ry. 
On  the  face  of  the  index  guide  card,  Fig.  8, 
which  is  assigned  to  each  bridge,  is  given  full 
information  as  to  the  location  of  the  bridge,  its 
type,  dimensions,  age,  etc.  Behind  each  index 
card  are  filed  salmon-colored  inspection  cards, 
Fig.  9,  one  for  each  inspection;  these  show  the 
condition  of  the  bridge,  with  the  materials  and 
estimated  cost  for  repairs.  In  this  way  full  par- 
ticulars of  any  bridge  and  the  periodical  inspec- 
tions can  be  seen  at  any  time.  The  cards  can  be 
printed  on  tough  paper  thin  enough  to  permit  of 
blue  print  copies  being  made.  In  the  arrange- 
ment shown  by  Fig.  8,  the  indexing  is  by  num- 
bers, and  on  large  roads,  those  of  each  division 
would  be  numbered  and  indexed  separately.  The 
word  "Bridge"  need  not  be  repeated  in  each  case, 
and  cards  of  a  different  color  may  be  inserted  to 
show  the  location  of  stations,  these  station  cards 
having  the  name  on  a  raised  tag. 

The  heading  of  a  card  used  by  a  firm  of  con- 
tracting engineers  for  keeping  records  of  work 
and  cost  on  individual  railway  contracts  is 

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shown  in  Fig.  10.  This  is  a  buff  card,  9%  x  6% 
ins.,  with  the  reverse  side  blank.  At  the  head 
of  the  card  are  shown  the  name  and  location  of 
the  railway;  the  contract  price,  estimated  cost, 
and  dates  of  commencement  and  completion.  On 
the  body  of  the  card  (with  23  lines  for  as  many 
weeks)  are  shown  the  progress,  labor  and  cost 
for  each  week,  and  also  for  the  entire  period 
ending  with  each  week,  together  with  the  per- 
centage of  work  completed.  Thus,  by  this  sys- 
tem, the  manager  having  a  large  number  of  con- 
tracts in  hand  can,  by  looking  through  the  card 
records,  see  at  a  glance  how  each  is  progressing, 
both  as  to  work  and  cost,  and  can  also  at  once 
obtain  this  information  for  any  one  particular 
contract. 

The  ten  cards  described  above  are  illustrative 
of  the  various  applications  of  the  card  system, 
but  the  remaining  cards  are  examples  of  those 
used  by  one  firm,  the  Godwin  Construction  Co., 
of  New  York,  for  the  various  records  required  in 
its  business.  For  particulars  of  these  we  are 
indebted  to  the  company's  engineer,  Mr.  Myron 
S.  Falk.  Fig.  11  is  a  card  G  x  4  ins.,  for  the  daily 
report  of  the  resident  engineer  of  any  piece  of 
work.  The  engineer  (or  the  timekeeper)  on  each 
of  the  company's  contracts  is  required  to  fill  up 
and  mail  one  of  these  cards  at  the  close  of  each 
day,  so  that  the  office  is  always  informed  as  to 
the  progress  of  work  at  any  point.  On  the  back 
of  the  card  (and  printed  across  the  narrower 
width)  is  the  time  sheet  of  the  day  (Fig.  12),  and 
this  is  summarized  on  the  face  of  the  card.  An 
inspection  of  the  face,  therefore,  shows  at  once 
the  work  done,  material  received,  amount  of 
payroll,  weather  conditions,  and  the  time  put  in 
on  the  work. 

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collected  or  summarized  on  a  weekly  report  card, 
(j  x  4  ins.,  shown  in  Fig.  13.  In  order  to  insure 
accuracy,  the  timekeeper  on  the  work  is  also  re- 
quired to  make  out  one  of  these  latter  cards  at 
the  end  of  the  week,  and  this  must  check  with 
the  office  records.  On  the  back  of  this  card, 
which  is  blank,  the  timekeeper  on  the  work  is 
required  to  state  the  amount  of  work  accom- 
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FOREMAN  
TIMEKEEPER  





DATE  



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Teams 

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Fig.  12.     Time-Sheet  on  Reverse  of  Engineer's  Card 
(Fig.   11.) 

used  for  the  daily  report,  but  the  card  is  much 
more  convenient. 

The  card  shown  in  Fig.  14  is  found  to  be  of  the 
greatest  value  in  obtaining  quotations  for  sup- 
plies. It  is  G  x  4  ins.,  and  as  envelopes  of  this 
size  are  not  in  general  use,  a  return  envelope  is 
always  enclosed  when  sending  to  a  supply  house 
for  quotations.  The  employment  card.  Fig.  15, 
is  used  to  enable  the  office  to  keep  a  close  record 
of  employees  and  applicants  for  employment. 


The  size  is  5  x  3  ins.,  and  on  the  back  are  lines 
for  the  following  additional  information:  1,  Ref- 
erences furnished;  2,  date  of  leaving;  3,  reason 
for  leaving;  4,  date  of  re-employment;  5,  recom- 
mendation given. 

The  ledger  accounts  are  worked  up  on  cards 
8x5  ins.,  the  style  of  heading  of  which  is  shown 
in  Fig.  16.  The  headings  of  the  last  five  columns 


Location  of  Work  

Class  of  Work  

GODWIN 

80  W 

(INSTRUCTION  COMPANY,    Tlme  fof  WMk  Endina  

ALL  «...,<*  YORK                                                    S()<etNo  _ 

Section  No.  

J 

S. 

M. 

T. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

S. 

No.  of  Hrs. 

Rate 

Wit 

Amount 

NOTE  —On  b.ck  Of  (Sii  >h.et,  furnish  description  of  work  •CCOT.pll.n.O  Mi  w..k.       SION   HERE 

Fig.  13.     Card  for  Weekly  Summary  of  Time  Sheets. 

are  given  only  as  examples;  the  actual  headings 
vary  for  different  classes  of  contracts.  The  only 
book  that  the  office  keeps  is  a  cash  book,  and 
all  entries  from  that  book  are  entered  at  once 
on  the  ledger  cards,  so  that  the  different  items  of 
cost  on  any  work  may  be  found  at  once. 

In  addition  to  these,  the  office  has  a  number 
of  other  forms  of  cards  for  various  purposes. 
All  bills  that  are  paid  by  this  company  are  sent 
out  on  vouchers  8y2  x  7  ins.,  folding  to  3%  x  Sy2 


in 


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ins.  for  filing.  In  order  to  insure  proper  records 
of  materials,  all  orders  are  made  out  by  the 
company  on  printed  slips  of  yellow  paper  3%  X 
8%  ins.;  the  foremen  or  inspectors  on  the  various 
works  are  furnished  with  printed  slips  of  pink 
paper  on  which  they  record  all  materials  re- 
ceived. 

The  use  of  ledger  accounts  for  individual  pieces 
of  work  has  been  referred  to  in  this  article,  and 


GODWIN    CONSTRUCTION    Co.  so   WALL   ST..    NEW   YORK. 


Application  for  employment .Date; ' 

Name _  .  ,       Entered  our  employ 

Address Rate  per 

City  .... , Rate  changed 

Age  Married Where  last  employed^ 

Reason  for  change How  long  there Wages 

Where  second  last  employed What  trade ;.... 

How  long  worked  at  it _  Union  .member 

What   union  1  THIS  INFORMATION  nccEivto  BV 


Fig.    15.     Card   Record   of  Employees. 

it  is  generally  recognized  that  such  accounts  are 
of  the  utmost  importance  in  railway  engineering 
•departments,  to  enable  a  proper  record  and  ac- 
count to  be  kept  of  individual  contracts.  The 
objection  has  been  made  that  it  is  difficult  to  in- 
sure accuracy  in  such  accounts,  but  contracting 
engineers,  who  are  vitally  interested  in  the  mat- 
ter of  cost,  find  this  quite  practicable,  and  there 
is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  practicable  to 
adopt  the  same  system  in  railway  service.  In 
fact,  this  system  of  accounting  has  been  strongly 
recommended  by  the  American  Railway  Engineer- 

21 


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ing  and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association,  al- 
though its  report  refers  to  loose-leaf  book  rec- 
ords and  does  not  mention  card  records. 

The  use  of  ihe  card-index  system  in  railway 
motive-power  department  offices  was  dealt  with 
in  a  paper  recently  presented  before  the  Western 
Railway  Club  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Wynne,  Mechanical 
Engineer  of  the  Illinois  Central  Ry.  In  addition 
to  a  description  of  a  number  of  forms  actually 
used,  it  was  shown  that  the  system  was  far 
superior  to  book  records;  the  latter  are  unwieldy, 
not  convenient  for  reference,  and  lack  the  flexi- 
bility of  the  more  compact  card-index  system  in 
allowing  for  alterations  and  general  expansion. 
Records  of  locomotives  (with  their  dimensions, 
mileage,  performance,  etc.)  are  kept  in  this  way; 
also  of  cars,  shop  equipment,  supplies,  water  sta- 
tions (and  quality  of  water),  as  well  as  the  ordi- 
nary card-index  for  files  of  drawings. 

Card  records  are  also  used  by  municipal  en- 
gineers in  keeping  records  of  street  and  sewer 
work,  water  mains,  etc.,  the  cards  showing  sucli 
information  as  the  kind  of  pavement,  sewer,  size 
of  pipe,  date  of  construction,  contractor,  con- 
tract prices  and  total  cost,  eto.  They  are  also 
used  in  keeping  record  of  surveys. 


23 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY, 
BERKELEY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

Books  not  returned  on  time  are  subject  to  a  fine  of 
50c  per  volume  after  the  third  day  overdue,  increasing 
to  $1.00  per  volume  after  the  sixth  day.  Books  not  in 
demand  may  be  renewed  if  application  is  made  before 
expiration  of  loan  period. 


YB  5187 


75 


